Confess Already!
by Lost and Never Found
Summary: It should never take three years, two meddling friends, and a threat to leave to finally confess... Except that Gippal is a bit dumb when it comes to Rikku. 1st line challange response at QTC.
1. Chapter 1

**For the 1****st**** line challenge on QTC (First chapter, at least):**

**1) Don't worry, I read her diary. She likes your butt and fancy hair.**

**She thinks it's fancy?**

—**PrettyGothGirl**

**(hides under a rock as she waits for a response to her first FFX/X-2 fic)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, or there would be more than hinting and flirting going on between Gipster and Cid's Girl.**

"Don't worry, I read her diary," Paine's eyes rolled as she informed him dryly of her actions. It was the sneakiest thing she had ever done, and she still felt guilty about it, but Paine needed proof to get through to this idiot's brain. "She likes your butt and fancy hair."

"She thinks it's fancy?" Gippal's reply was only half-joking. He was brooding, and Paine knew it.

Smirking, she leaned against a nearby tree as she crossed her arms, obviously amused. A few feet in front of her, the Al Bhed stood with his arms crossed, looking uncharacteristically serious as he seemed to be looking out at Besaid's blue waters. She knew exactly what was on his mind…

_Yuna giggled as she balanced Vidina in her arms carefully while Rikku rubbed sunscreen on his pale and easily burnt skin. The toddler was eager to waddle his way into trouble, and it was a real challenge for her and Rikku to keep an eye on him while Lulu cleaned house. Rikku had the bright idea to go down to the beach where there was little for him to disappear into. Paine was staying safely out of the way. She Did Not Do babies, and Rikku and Vidina both were prone to sand throwing in peaks of temper._

"_I thought it would be good practice, keeping an eye on him," Yuna admitted as she reluctantly sat the redhead toddler down. With a wild shriek, he bee-lined for the water's edge, plunking down happily to splash in the shallow water under three pairs of cautious female eyes. "Lulu didn't say he was such a handful though."_

"_Considering that one's daddy, you need to get used to it, Yunie," Rikku teased as Yuna protectively rested her hand over her growing womb with a blush. The three friends were stretched out on a set of beach towels, none of them but Rikku in actual swimsuits, just enjoying the fresh air._

_Letting a handful of sand trail out of her hand in thought, Paine eyed Rikku curiously. The blonde had been careful to keep all the attention on Yuna's pregnancy, Tidus's adjustment to being alive again, and Paine's own budding relationship with Baralai. It was unlike the Al Bhed to avoid her own gossip. "So Rikku…" the warrior drawled, "How are things in Djose?" She smirked when the younger girl instantly froze. No one was supposed to know Rikku had been working for the Machine Faction since a month after the whole Vegnagun instance._

"_Gippal gossips like an old bag lady," the princess whined, flopping onto her back as Yuna giggled. However, she didn't continue which made Yuna and Paine share startled, bewildered looks before focusing more closely on Rikku._

"_How is Gippal?" Yuna tried to ask casually, though her eyes were bright with curiosity and suspicion._

"_Same old same old," Rikku tried to reply just as casually as her cousin had asked, only to have her pout ruin it._

"_Oh Rikku…" Yuna murmured sympathetically to her cousin._

_Paine, however, snorted. "You both are so annoying," she drawled, "You dance around each other, both when you are around each other physically and when the other comes up in a conversation."_

"_He talks about me?" Rikku sat up at that, her eyes bright and alert at this positive bit of news, making the two friends laugh. When she pouted and grumbled, "Meanies," they only laughed harder. When they finally quieted down she said uncharacteristically softly, "I don't know, you guys… maybe I should just give up…" Laying her head down on her arms, the Al Bhed completely missed the distressed look Yuna sent Paine and the equally bothered look the warrior sent the ex-summoner. Something must have happened for Rikku to be seriously talking about giving up her three-year pursuit of the leader of the Machine Faction that even pre-dated _their_ friendship._

"_Rikku…?" Yuna said her name again tentatively, poking the depressed blonde's shoulder. "What happened?"_

_Her lower lip quivering, Rikku said sadly, "He… He was talking to a couple of his workers, and they were teasing him about me, and he said…" A tear fell down her cheek before she could hide her face. "Gippal said that I was just a kid and didn't know what I was doing or saying…"_

_Yuna gasped and hugged Rikku's shoulders comfortingly, but Paine's eyes flashed in anger as she stiffened in rage. She knew for a _fact _Rikku had been the subject of Gippal's affections and fantasies alike for over two years now, the man whined to Baralai about it so much. His well-known reputation as a player and her own status as a two-time world saver, plus the closest thing to royalty the Al Bhed had, kept him away from her…well, that and his own stupidity for letting those insignificant things get in his way._

_She was going to smack him with her sword till he saw reason again. For a logical person, he was a real jackass most of the time._

_Like you know, now, while he stood in the tree line, watching Yuna comfort a still quietly crying Rikku, which was freaky in and of itself. Paine knew that he knew she knew he came here because he couldn't stand being away from Rikku for more than a couple of days and this was her second week in Besaid according to Lulu, who had shoved Vidina on Yuna and told Paine and her firmly to use the time to wriggle what was bugging Rikku so much out of her. Yet he just stood there instead of being a man about it and striding forward and kissing the girl senseless so she would realize what an ass he was._

"_Yuna, Vidina is about to eat a starfish," Paine said warningly. Maternal instinct reared its head in both cousins as they shot after the toddler, and the warrior stalked into the trees, her hands twitching for her sword already._

…_His neck is still bruised_, Paine noted gleefully. Yuna and Rikku had returned to the village hours ago. "I'm going to have to smack you again, aren't I?"

He raised his hands defensively. "No, no! That's completely unnecessary," he assured, eye wide. Rubbing the back of his neck when she relaxed, Gippal sighed and looked in the direction of the path to Besaid. "I don't suppose you would bring Cid's girl down here, would you?"

Seeming to mull it over, Paine held up one finger to urge him to wait a moment before stalking off towards the path. She resisted the urge to laugh when his sigh of relief came from behind her.

It took only a little wheedling and a forceful shove to get Rikku to run down to the shoreline. Paine waited a few seconds before she followed. Like she was going to miss a minute of this…

Resuming her place along the trees, almost exactly where Gippal had been hiding that morning, Paine smirked as a nervous Gippal paced in front of a rather confused Rikku. He would frequently pause, open his mouth, and then shake his head before resuming his pacing.

"Are you going to say what exactly was so urgent sometime tonight? Like ever?" the petite girl finally teased. The ocean breeze carried her words easily to Paine's hiding place; like she expected any less after she saw Gippal hiding there. "There isn't anything wrong back in Djose, is there?"

"No," Gippal muttered, frustrated with himself.

"You haven't forgotten to pay the workers again?"

"No."

"Lost the account ledger again?"

"No."

"Broke your comsphere down for parts again?"

"Rikku, I love you."

Both Rikku and Paine blinked in unison at the sudden, blurted confession, much less the fact Gippal actually used Rikku's name. "I'm sorry, I heard you wrong," Rikku said as she reached up to wiggle a finger in her right ear. "I could have sworn I heard you actually use my name and then say you love me."

"I did," Gippal said. His habit of barely speaking one to three word sentences when he was nervous appeared. He was rubbing the back of his neck again, eyeing her warily with his one good eye. Paine was willing to bet gil he was worried about losing one of his remaining limbs.

Rikku blinked slowly, and then smiled too brightly. "I get it," she said with a laugh that made Paine wince at the forced quality to it, "This is part of one of the worker's pranks or something, isn't it? Don't worry, I won't hold it against you, Gipster. Well, I need to get back to Yunie…" She twirled around in the sand with ease that only came with growing up in a giant sand trap and headed back towards the path.

"Cid's girl, wait!" Gippal said desperately, his expression incredulous. Paine could have been nice and warned him that all his snide comments had made Rikku unwilling to believe him on the first try, but that would made it too easy for him. He ran forward and stood in the petite girl's way, raising his hands to grip her shoulders firmly.

"Gippal really, I get it," Rikku tried to be cheerful as she reassured him. It was painful for Paine to have to listen to.

"Rikku, please I…" When Gippal was once again lost for words, Paine closed her eyes and resisted the urge to smack her own forehead. He was helpless. "Fuck it." Crimson eyes snapped open at the curse and watched in amazement as the Al Bhed man hauled the much smaller girl into his embrace, arms like steel keeping her pressed against him by her hips and shoulders as he wildly kissed her. Paine almost felt her jaw unhinge. _Well, that's one way of proving that you mean it…_

She was growing worried that he was going to suffocate the other girl when they finally pulled back for air, him resting his forehead against hers as he refused to let her go, making her have to hold on to his shoulders for balance as she was barely able to touch the ground any more. Rikku's infectious laughter, finally ringing true again, echoed along the beach.

"You know, I love you too." Paine grinned as Gippal's victorious shout echoed after her laughter and heartfelt confession, followed by Rikku's squeals of joy as he swung her around before pulling her lips to his again for a kiss.

_Not bad for a few hours' worth of matchmaking…_ the warrior thought with a smirk as she returned to the village to give the new couple some privacy.

**First Chapter submitted! The second will probably post tomorrow and the third after I finish it (I'm half-way done) and PrettyGothGirl finishes Beta'ing (she is an awesome Beta, I just wish I hadn't been so lazy and waited to send it to her, I couldn't make nearly enough changes like she suggested... ;_;).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wee, Chapter Two:**

**10) You actually were telling the truth.**

**I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised.**

**-justhavefaith**

"You actually were telling the truth..." Rikku said slowly, amazement bright in her eyes as she met Gippal's look with a smile on her face, finally getting a hold of her exuberance for the time being.

"I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised," Gippal quipped back, his own eye bright as he smiled back at her, relieved to hear her laugh. She had been so oddly quiet around Djose before she left to visit Yuna here on Besaid. It had worried him. Rikku and quiet didn't usually belong within the same island as each other, much less her being the source of it. It hadn't been until after she left that the rather obvious problem had been pointed out to him...

_Baralai flinched at the sudden loud noise that echoed through Djose Temple, a.k.a. the Machine Faction base. It was standard procedure to hear some sort of explosion at least daily, but this sounded less fiery and more like fighting. Abandoning the guard he was forced to bring with him, he darted up the stairs, easily able to locate the source as more loud noises followed the first. It didn't exactly soothe him when the source proved to be Gippal's office. Not hesitating, he opened the door, only to find him face to face with one half-depressed, half-enraged Al Bhed. "She's gone, Baralai..." he murmured before sinking to the ground._

_The Praetor didn't even have to ask who was gone; there was only one _she_ who would have Gippal in this sorry state. "Aren't you the one who said trying to ground Rikku is like telling it to rain in the desert? It works maybe half the time, and even then only for a little while," the Yevonite tried to console as knelt down to be eye-level with the almost boneless Al Bhed, "She'll be back once she gets bored with wherever she went, which won't take too long. Did you say yesterday you were surprised by how long she stayed here?"_

_"You don't get it..." Gippal said lowly, "She went to Besaid. She only goes to Besaid for two reasons. 1, she's visiting Yuna and if that were the case she would have told me or maybe even dragged me along, and she'd have been back today seeing as how she left yesterday. 2, they had a major emergency that couldn't wait for me, in which case I would have at least gotten a call over the commspheres or again, she would be back already. Or 3..." The Machine Faction leader trailed off and rolled his eye upwards as he murmured off-handedly, "Huh, guess I have three reasons."_

_Now Baralai was worried. Gippal could be sort of... okay, extremely scatter-brained, but that was only concerning things he didn't consider important. RIkku was not on that rather long list. Before he could comment, Gippal shook his head and finished, "Anyway, where was I? Right, 3, she's hiding from something or someone to the point she's using Yuna as an excuse. Cid's girl has to be either extremely pissed off or nearly suicidal to use that reason, and she'll disappear until she either sorts herself out or someone convinces her to come back, both of which could take weeks." Running his fingers through his already disheveled hair, Gippal muttered, "It's been four days already, Baralai... It's definitely 3. Now I just need to figure out what the hell I did."_

_Shaking his head and praying for guidance, Baralai tried to figure out how to help his friend navigate what was sure to be a minefield. If his earlier tentative ventures towards Paine had taught him anything, it was that men tended to screw up without intentionally meaning to screw up. It all came down to how women perceived their little bubble and how men seemed to keep popping it. "Has anything happened recently?" he finally asked._

_"Everything has been going fine. I've been keeping my distance without being cold, she's been being bubbly and way too irresistible for her own good. Same old same old," Gippal muttered depressingly. "I've had a couple of girls around to try and distract myself, but tried to keep her from finding out."_

_"Which pretty much guarantees that she did find out," Baralai informed him, "Rikku probably has the entire temple networked so she learns about everything, even secrets." That brought a slight smile out of the somber-but-usually-recklessly-happy Al Bhed. "Let's go into your office, what's left of it, and finish this conversation. I have a feeling you don't want your workers overhearing this." One of Gippal's chief complaints was how his workers found his constant sidestepping of Rikku just too funny/cute and constantly intervened. The Praetor managed to get the larger man inside his office, though navigating the space that was usually waiting to turn into pure chaos incarnate and now had was difficult._

_Groaning as he saw the state of his office, Gippal collapsed in his chair. "I'm so dead... It took Cid's girl months to get Djose organized..." he muttered under his breath._

_"I hear from a reliable source she still has to come in here and straighten you out once a week," Baralai said knowingly. It always amazed him that flighty, impulsive Rikku was a complete office neat freak, though it balanced out Gippal and his amazing knack of losing anything and everything work related, especially when it was boring and needed done. When Gippal only sighed instead of laughing, Baralai found an empty spot to sit (which happened to be on the corner of the desk) before asking, "Your workers haven't been up to any tricks lately, have they?"_

_"Not that I can think of," Gippal shot back, obviously not in the mood to discuss his workers' matchmaking efforts that were always far from subtle. When Baralai leveled a look at him that distinctly reminded the Al Bhed of Paine, he sighed and grabbed a hold of his temper; the Praetor didn't deserve his anger. "They tease me about her, like they always have, though they may have gotten more vocal than usual."_

_"As in, saying it more often, like maybe while Rikku is in hearing distance?" Baralai suggested. Judging from the look on Gippal's face like he had just been hit over the head with a board, he figured he was right like usual. Shaking his head, the darker skinned man crossed his arms, "I'll take it you respond like you have for the last year and told them all sorts of lies about why you can't date her." When his friend said nothing, Baralai's temper finally snapped. "Damn it, Gippal! You know how sensitive Rikku is about what others think of her, especially other Al Bhed, and you more than any other! Why couldn't you just tell them to bugger off rather than say anything about her?"_

_"Because my mouth works faster than my brain," Gippal snapped back, "You should know that by now."_

_They glared at each other for a moment, before both sighed in defeat. "So, are we doing this the covert way, or are we doing things the stupid way?" Baralai finally asked._

_"Covert way meaning...?"_

_"I somehow convince Paine to go in first."_

_"Sure. Works for me."_

Pulling himself out of memory lane, Gippal grinned as he finally set Rikku down on her feet, intent on taking her somewhere a little more private for what he hoped would be a typical Cid's-girl-being-touchy-feely celebration of their declarations.

However, apparently Rikku had other plans. She squirmed away from him and rested her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Gippal gulped. How a girl that was barely over five-feet scared the ever-loving _crap_ out of him he would never know. Though, that pose gave him a nice view, he realized as he leered at her.

"Hey, eyes up here!" she warned, moving her hand to snap her fingers to get his attention before pointing to her face with the same hand.

"But the full view is so _nice_..." Gippal jokingly whined, only to gulp when she pulled out one of those nasty crimson blades of her. "Okay, I'll focus."

"We need guidelines," she told him firmly, "I know you, and unless someone very _clearly_ outlines what is and is not acceptable, you are going to do all sorts of nasty things." He smirked but she continued doggedly, though not without eeping and blushing at the look on his face. "No bringing other girls around," she finally managed to squeak.

"No worries there, _pypa_," he teased, though the look in his eye was serious, "They were just distraction to try and keep my hands wandering somewhere those pretty little blades would cut my hands off for going." Gippal felt his smirk grow wider when her blush only grew darker at his honest admission.

Clearing her throat, Rikku managed to add, "No running off after friends possessed by spirits intent on destroying the world with a big-ass machine."

"Sure, ruin my fun."

"And could you try to keep your office at least somewhat organized?"

Rolling his eye, Gippal took a step forward, same eye wickedly brightening when she took a step back. "Then how would I get you into my office so often?" When she glared as she stepped back, he conceded even as he took two steps forward, "Alright, I'll make an attempt."

"And for Shiva's sake, I have a damn name!" she finally whined, stomping her foot and pouting.

All he could see was that full lower lip. _So long control..._ he mused before surging forward, swinging her back off her feet. Any worries he had over her weapons vanished when they hit the ground, her hands were too busy getting a grip on his hair in surprise to keep their grip on the handles. Catching her lower lip in between his as she gasped, he didn't hesitate to take what she unconsciously offered, groaning at her taste. His breath hitched when she eagerly responded, making him lose all resemblance of sanity as he lost himself in the wet heat of her mouth, her tongue running desperately against his. Groaning again as he forced himself to break the kiss before he did something he certainly wouldn't regret but would rather take his time getting to, he closed his eye and rested his forehead against her shoulder. A smug grin tugged at his mouth as she panted for breath, her fingers still tangled in his hair and her feet not touching the ground anymore. "Whatever you say, _pypa_," he whispered heatedly in her ear before nipping her lobe teasingly, making her shudder delightfully.

Rikku whined deep in her throat and refused to let go of him this time when he set her down. She was surprised when he nudged her head with his, making her look at him straight on. "No running to Besaid next time I do something stupid," he told her firmly, "I'd rather you hit me and call me a dumbass first, so we could do the girly thing and talk about what's bugging you."

Angling her head so she could lightly brush her lips against hers, she wasn't able to restrain the smug grin that crossed her face when his eye drifted half-closed, the now familiar heat of desire lingering in the blue-green swirls. "All right..." she breathed, moaning softly when he resumed his furious kissing. Taking a deep breath when he finally let her breath and turned his attentions to her neck, she half-moaned, half-whimpered, "Gippal?"

His first answer was a groan and a sharp nip at her neck that made her melt. "Yes?" he finally breathed against her skin before licking where his teeth had left a mark.

"Never mind..."

**Three goes up tomorrow!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is! The wrap up! Would you all believe me if I said I forgot to post it yesterday...?**

**12) Well, you know how men are. They think "No" means "Yes" and "Get lost" means "Take me, I'm yours."**

—**justhavefaith**

"Well, you know how men are. They think 'No' means 'Yes' and 'Get lost' means 'Take me, I'm yours," the women laughed at Paine's dry assessment of the situation. "It took her finally walking away from him to make him realize what an ass he was being about it."

"Baralai, how set are you in your plans?" Gippal grumbled to his friend. The shorter man started and flushed before glaring at the Al Bhed out of the corners of his eyes. He ignored the glare, too busy sulking. Sure, he may owe Paine for setting them up, but still…

"_I'm pretty sure there are indecent behavior laws here."_

_The drawled comment tore Gippal from the haze he had been in; a haze of soft tan skin, the taste of sweetly tart apples and spicy cinnamon, and the sounds of Rikku mewing desperately in his ear as he relentlessly teased her with what he knew and he had made painfully sure that she didn't have a clue she could feel. _

_He heard Rikku whimper when he stopped, snapping him out of the haze yet again. This was going to be bad for his work when they went back to Djose, but one glance at her made it abundantly clear he couldn't turn her away anymore. She beamed up at him, before looking over her shoulder to glare at Paine. "You are turning into Tubby," she scolded, "He interrupted Yunie's 'Awwww' moment, and now you are butting into mine. And I've waited longer than her, too!" She pouted, making Gippal swallow and remind himself that eating Rikku's lip wasn't appropriate in front of her friends. He had to look somewhere else, and the tree line worked._

_Paine's dry laugh told him she knew how much of a struggle he was going through to restrain himself. "If I had left you two alone for much longer, Gippal would have done something stupid," the older girl replied, "Or at least, he would have done something that would have resulted in a rather cranky pregnant ex-summoner who still has rather prudish ideas about the proper order in relationships."_

"_Like she's one to talk… She was sharing a hut with Tidus within the week he came back…" Rikku muttered petulantly. Gippal could _hear _the pout. _Don't you dare look, _he snarled at himself. It was a lost warning. She wrapped her arms around his middle and he glanced down at her. Yep, there was that pout. Before she had time to react, he scooped her up and soundly kissed her, only stopping when Paine cleared her throat-loudly._

"_Meanie," Rikku accused as her friend smirked._

_Gippal only sighed, refusing to set Rikku down this time. "Is there a reason you are being a bubble-popper, or are just being annoying?" he asked casually._

"_While you were making up for the three years spent being an dimwitted ass, Yuna was wondering where her darling cousin disappeared to, and Baralai is here and spilled that you were suppose to arrive earlier today," Paine dryly informed him, "She's trusting, not stupid. I was given strict orders to preserve Rikku's chastity, despite my doubts it even exists."_

_Gippal growled under his breath, "I've invested time in making sure it exists—ow!" He leveled a look down at his scowling girlfriend. "What was that for?"_

"_What do you mean 'investing time'?" she demanded instead, "Are you the bastard that kept chasing away the guys I would meet and consider going on a date with?" He stared at her ruefully, and she glowered at him. "Ohhh!!! I should slit your throat, you ass!"_

"_I'm really getting sick of people calling me that…" Gippal said with only mild annoyance._

"_Then quit acting like one!" the two girls said in sync, before glancing at each other and laughing._

_He sighed and draped his arm over RIkku's shoulders. "I am so abused…" he whined, "Alright, _pypa_, let's go before your cousin completely melts down."_

_She nodded, blushing slightly at his new nickname for her. "It won't be good for the baby if she does…"_

_The pair were walking up, Paine behind them, when the platinum blonde mused, "You are just incapable of calling her by her name, aren't you?" He turned his head and glowered at her, but otherwise didn't comment._

Their friends had been gathered around, everyone from both world-saving adventures (sans Auron and Kimari) gathered to celebrate (belatedly) Yuna's pregnancy. The sight of Gippal's arm wrapped firmly around Rikku's waist and the smile on her face had many people forking over money to others due to numerous bets placed on the two (_neither_ were amused), grumbling all the while, as Anikki squawked in outrage, held back by an amused Buddy. A few hours (and drinks) later, the group had split into the females cooing over baby crap and the males talking blitzball. However, Gippal had kept his eye on Rikku constantly. Underage, skinny as a rail, not to mention short, she _did not_ bode well for more than two drinks, if that.

Even then Cid would kill him later, not matter how much he protested that it was just a one-time thing and wasn't he technically not responsible for her yet?

_Ixion, I'm thinking "yet"…_ he mentally groaned, though amused at himself. At this point, Paine set off another one of her dry, sarcastic jokes at his expense. Once again, the darker blonde glared at his friend, and Baralai glared right back. "One more, and I tell the whole room," he growled.

"You wouldn't dare."

Gippal opened his mouth to give him an uncharacteristically snarky reply when Paine's voice drifted over from the other side of the room. "Honestly, I've seen doors that aren't as thick as Gippal's head when one of us would try to convince him to just confess already," she said in amused disgust.

The Al Bhed gave the praetor an annoyed smirk. "Gippal," Baralai tried to warn, but it was too late.

"Oh, Paine…" Gippal called in amusement. When she looked over at him, he casually began tossing what looked like an innocent enough white box around in his hands.

Baralai's muffled yelp was heard by everyone present, making them stare at the dark-skinned platinum blonde as he covered his eyes with one hand, obviously unable to believe his luck. He knew he should have kept a closer eye on Gippal during their little office discussion… He had just gotten back from Luca where he purchased the damn thing in the first place, and never even noticed it was gone…

"What, Gipster?" Paine finally snapped, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him and drawing everyone's attention back to their exchange.

He smirked in response, ignoring the disliked nickname. "You know that little trip you and Baralai are planning on taking?" When she nodded, obviously still suspicious, he tossed the box at her. She caught it, and quirked a brow at Baralai's muffled groan. "Look what our favorite praetor wanted to give you on this little trip," Gippal suggested, swinging his arm over Rikku's shoulder. His _pypa_ was looking at him in amused confusion, trying to figure out what he wanted.

Rikku's attention was torn away from trying to figure out what was going through her new boyfriend's—she inwardly squealed—mind just by looking at him, but was interrupted by Paine's startled gasp. She quickly returned her eyes to the box in her friend's hands, only to gasp along with all the other girls. Under that plain white cardboard had been a smaller, black velvet ring case. When Paine's shaking hand opened the lid and revealed the sparkling diamond ring inside, amazed murmurs came from all those who could see, and silence reigned for a moment.

And Rikku knew what was about to happen.

Grabbing, Gippal's hand, she yanked on his arm to make him follow her as they fled the scene of his most recent stupidity, just as the ring case snapped closed, loudly. "Gippal!" Paine's thoroughly enraged growl came just as they disappeared out of the immediate line of fire.

"What was that about?" Gippal gasped, obviously not expecting that reaction from Paine. Rikku tartly informed him as she led him to a safe hiding place, away from Paine who was probably planning on subtracting more than respect points from her new beau.

"Why do you think she tried so hard to set us up? Under all that leather and bad temper is a die-hard romantic, you ass!"

**My first Rippal fic is done! SQUEEE!**


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